One More Chance

“Don’t conjure scenarios that haven’t happened yet. Don’t do that to yourself.”

“But what—?”

“Stop it.”

“Kristi, I—”

“You don’t know what kind of father Tyler’s going to be until you give him the chance. And if you start wondering about worst-case scenarios now, you’ll sabotage it and drive yourself nuts.”

“I need a contingency plan, Kristi. I need to know what I’m going to do if Tyler isn’t the father we all think he might be,” I said.

“You’ll do what you’ve always done, Ana.”

“And what is that?”

“You’ll be there for your son.”

I finished my glass of wine before I reached for the bottle.

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” I said.

“I’ll drink to that,” Kristi said.

Tyler

“What’s up, Tyler?”

“Hey, Ana. I was calling to talk with you about the Dodgers game,” I said.

“Oh, wow. Already?” she asked.

“Yep. I got last-minute tickets to a game tonight and wondered if I could take him with me.”

“Tonight?”

“Uh huh.”

“Well, he’s been with his grandparents for most of the weekend. I was hoping to have the night with him.”

“It’s just a game. I can snag another ticket if you want to come with us,” I said.

“I don’t know, Tyler. I don’t think tonight is a good night.”

“Ana, you told me I could have Brody whenever I wanted. And I need to make up for lost time—time I’ll never get back with my son.”

“Then why don’t you come over here? I’ll head out for a little while and the two of you can find something to do around here and catch another game next week or something?”

“All the games for the rest of the season are booked out. I’ve already checked. There aren’t any other tickets, and I don’t know if I’ll get lucky like this again,” I said.

“Tyler, compromise with me.”

“Compromise? You didn’t tell me I had a son for eight years and you want me to compromise?”

“That isn’t fair. There are a lot of things at play here. Yes, you can have Brody whenever you want, but I assumed you understood that meant after we had discussed things. Brody has a life with me and with his grandparents.”

“A life I want to be a part of. Ana, don’t make this difficult. I want time with my son, and I’ve got ways of making that happen.”

“Is that a threat?” she asked.

“No. Just—Ana, it’s a baseball game. It’s one night.”

“In the life of a child, it’s never just one night. You can’t call out of the blue and just willy-nilly take my son—”

“Our son,” I said. “Our son, who you refused to tell me about until it was absolutely necessary. Until you got caught.”

Silence fell over the phone, and I stood. Fuck. I should’ve known she would make this hard on all of us. Ana seemed most adept at doing exactly that.

“I don’t trust Brody to be in such a crowded area like that with you,” she said.

“You don’t trust me to protect our son,” I said.

“Not with the way you’re talking to me, no.”

“Then how do you want me to talk to you when I’m upset, Ana?”

“I don’t know, Tyler, but this isn’t it!”

“I’ll keep in touch with you. I’ll text you pictures. Hell, I’ll send you videos if you want me to. But I promised Brody one of these games, and he was really excited about it. This is our only chance. It’s my first promise to my son, and you’re standing in the way of it.”

“Don’t put that on me, Tyler.”

“Then what is your responsibility, Ana? Because I swear to hell, I can’t figure out what you feel responsible for and what you don’t,” I said.

She sniffled on the other end of the line, and it forced a sigh from my lips. This wasn’t how any of this was supposed to happen. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go down. We were supposed to have an amicable relationship for Brody’s sake. And yet here we were, arguing and bickering and yelling at one another over the phone.

“Let me take our son to his first baseball game. Please, Ana.”

“Okay. But keep in touch with me. If I message you, you better respond.”

“I’ll keep my phone where I can see it at all times,” I said.

“What time are you coming by to get him?”

“How does within the next hour sound?”

She sighed heavily before she sniffled again. “He’ll be ready,” she said.

“See you soon.”

I changed my clothes and grabbed all my things, then shoved the tickets into my back pocket. I couldn’t wait to take him to see this game. I couldn’t wait to share this moment with my son. I raced over to Ana’s house and found them standing on the porch. Brody launched off the edge to come see me. I held my arms out for him and picked up him, twirling him around before he wrapped his arms around my neck.